Silicon Valley-Based Turn Opens First Innovation Center at University of Illinois Research Park CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois today announced that Turn, the marketing software and analytics platform, will open an Innovation Center on campus for the research and development of new data-driven marketing technologies. The center is the company’s first outside of its Silicon Valley headquarters, and engineering work will focus on the full technology stack of the Turn platform. Along with attracting engineering talent excited by the prospect of joining a leading player in the fast-growing marketing software industry, Turn plans to collaborate with research faculty on joint R&D projects and to contribute to campus life through education outreach and seminar opportunities. “The Turn Innovation Center will give our students the opportunity to be at the forefront of the intersection of digital marketing and big data,” said Chancellor Phyllis Wise. “Such real-world experiences are an invaluable part of their education.” “The Turn Innovation Center at the University of Illinois brings us directly into the center of one of the nation’s top engineering campuses,” says Ali Dasdan, senior director of engineering, Turn. “We are building the smartest global enterprise technology company dedicated to solving the data problems marketers face. Some of the excellent talent here will help us to meet new challenges in solving those problems.” The Turn Innovation Center will be located within the University of Illinois Research Park, home to innovation centers for multinational corporations and publicly traded firms including Yahoo!, Anheuser-Busch InBev, John Deere, Caterpillar, Dow, Neustar, State Farm, Citrix, Raytheon, and Abbott. Ross Bundy has been appointed by Turn to lead the Turn Innovation Center at the University of Illinois. He has an extensive engineering background gained through his 20 years of experience at IBM, Motorola, Yahoo!, and Riverbed Technology. About the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Since its founding in 1867, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has earned a reputation as a world-class leader in research, teaching, and public engagement. Located on campus, the Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a technology hub for startup companies and corporate research and development operations. Within the Research Park there are more than 90 companies employing students and full-time technology professionals. About Turn Turn delivers real-time insights that transform the way leading advertising agencies and enterprises make marketing decisions. Our integrated cloud platform enables data management, cross-channel advertising, and advanced analytics from a single login, along with point-and-click access to more than 130 integrated technology partners. Turn is headquartered in Silicon Valley and provides its products and services worldwide. Turn provides three real-time marketing applications: Audience Suite, an enterprise data management and audience planning platform; Campaign Suite, a digital media execution platform for video, mobile, social, and display advertising; and DataMine Analytics, a data exploration, discovery and warehousing solution purpose-built for marketers. Turn works with the world’s top brands, agencies and trading desks, including Accuen, Aegis, AMNET, Chrysler, Experian, Foursquare, Microsoft, OMD, StubHub, Thomas Cook, Toyota, Travelers, Verizon, VivaKi and Zales. For more information, follow @turnplatform.
